DIY clay products. How to make ceramic dishes

Rice. 2. Forming products by hand

In modern artistic ceramics, decoration techniques are used, such as fire patination in an oxidizing and reducing environment, tinting and painting the product with salts and acids of metals, taken in pure form or introduced into the composition of colored engobe, glaze, and enamel.

The pottery wheel allows you to create symmetrical, evenly expanding or contracting vessels of various shapes. It consists of an iron vertical rod attached to the work table and two wooden circles - a large, lower one (diameter - 95-105 cm), and a small, upper one (diameter - 30-40 cm). The potter's wheel is driven by turning the foot of the lower wheel. The upper circle is the direct work station where the product is molded. In this case, some tools are needed: a wooden cutter, a piece of flat rubber, a walnut sponge, a metal stick, pieces of leather and plexiglass.

Rice. 3. Pottery wheel diagrams
Rice. 4. General form potter's wheel
Rice. 5. Tournette

Working on a pottery wheel requires virtuoso skill. Raw clay thrown onto a potter's wheel wet hands pulled into a cone. Pressing it from above with his hand, the potter lowers the mass down. This is repeated several times (to even out the texture of the clay mass). As a result of pressure with the thumb, the elongated lump is turned into a hollow cylinder. By passing the walls of the cylinder between two fingers, the body and neck of the product are turned out. Using a wooden cutter, the mass is given the required shape. During molding, your hands should be periodically moistened with water to enhance the gliding of your fingers. Having given the product a finished shape, it is smoothed with a wet sponge and a piece of rubber, after which it is cut off the potter's wheel with thin wire or twine and placed to dry - most often in the air. The product, dried to 19-20% humidity, is placed on the center of the upper circle, attached with a piece of clay, and corrected with appropriate tools; they are turned with a metal hook, smoothed with a wet sponge, and polished with plexiglass. If the product consists of several parts, they are glued together. Next comes decoration.

Rice. 4. Forming products on a pottery wheel

Casting in plaster molds is based on the ability of plaster to absorb moisture. The liquefied clay mass, the so-called slip, is poured into a plaster mold, the moisture is absorbed and after some time an even layer of clay forms at the walls of the mold. The mass gradually hardens, the dimensions of the molded product are reduced and the resulting semi-finished product is easily separated from the mold. Such products are loose and shrink significantly.

The next stage in the production of ceramics is drying. A freshly molded or poured product contains from 22 to 30% moisture - depending on the molding method. The drying process is different for different mass compositions: the fattier the clay, the longer it takes to dry. If the density of the shard is unequal, shrinkage occurs unevenly, which leads to the appearance of cracks and deformation. The shape of the product also matters: the larger its area, the faster it dries. There should be no drafts during drying. First, the product undergoes preliminary drying, at 19% moisture content it is decorated, and then final drying occurs.

DECORATION

Techniques for artistic processing of ceramic products are largely determined by the characteristics of the material and the properties of the clay. These are hand painting, engraving, sgraffito, flandrovka, “marble”, modeling, polishing, reserving and others.

painting - the most widely used method of artistic processing. They are painted with engobe - finely ground liquid clay, white or mixed with dyes. The engobe pattern is applied only to a damp shard (19-20% humidity). An overdried product cannot be painted, since the engobe falls off during drying and firing. When applying engobe to a very damp product (with a moisture content of 27-34%), add a large number of water and as a result the product may lose its shape. The product filled with engobe is painted using a pipette. The drawing is usually done along a schematic outline drawn with a finger or pencil, but the lines must be clear. Engobe is applied over them with a pipette. This method, although painstaking, requires skill and attention, but allows you to obtain unique products. When engraving and sgraffito, the product is filled with engobe in a color contrasting with the shard and dried to 14-15% moisture content. The outline of the design is lightly drawn with a pencil, then the engobe is scratched down to the shard with a special wooden or metal stick. This method produces a clear drawing. As in graphics, shading is made using the sgraffito method, which under the glaze creates wonderful iridescence of two colors.

When flanging, a product freshly filled with engobe is placed on a tournette. In the places where the design should be, a spiral is applied with a pipette with a contrasting engobe, and circles or 3-5 wavy lines of different colors are applied to it. In the depths of these lines, dashes or circles are made in the engobe in the same order as the wavy lines were made. Then, moving from bottom to top or vice versa (perpendicular to the wavy lines), lines are drawn that create a kind of pattern. Flyandrovka is an ancient painting technique. The flandrovka pattern cannot be obtained in any other way, but it can be quickly mastered.

When decorating a product using the “marble” method, it is first doused with colored engobe and placed on a tournette. With an engobe of other colors, lines are drawn vertically and, setting the tournette in motion, a spiral is drawn from bottom to top with a pipette, and the product is shaken.

“Marble” can also be obtained by applying shapeless spots to an engobe-filled product, then shaking it. With a well-chosen engobe, unexpected color combinations are formed under the glaze.

When sculpting, a relief from a clay mass is manually applied to the product, the color of which most often matches the color of the shard. Sometimes raised areas are painted a different color.

Reservation is a method based on applying a wax or fat layer according to the pattern outlined on the product before glazing it. The pattern has the color of ceramic mass, the rest of the surface is covered with colored engobe (engobe does not stick to oiled areas). One of the methods of decoration is also moletage: a pressed pattern is applied to the product with a special wheel, after which it is painted with an engobe of carved flowers. This is a very effective way to decorate decorative household items.

An ancient method is also polishing, which is produced by smoothing the wet surface of the product with a stone. Sometimes a simple ornament in the form of stripes, teeth, circles, etc. is applied with a stone.

In practice, products are often decorated by combining techniques - painting with engraving or flanging with “marble”. When painting with engraving, the engraving is first done and then filled in the right places engobom. When combining flandrovka and “marble”, the “marble” comes first, and then the flandrovka. A number of tools are used for decoration: tournette, pipette, metal and wooden sticks, stacks, etc. Tournettes can be tabletop or on special stands - frames. The upper circle of the tournette, where the product is placed, is easily moved by the left hand. The main tool for applying engobe is a pipette, into the hole of which an evenly cut straw is inserted. The diameter of the straw determines the flow of the engobe. When flandrovka, a stick is used, at the end of which a metal or wooden point is inserted at a right angle, and engraving and sgraffito are performed with wooden and metal sticks similar to a pencil. For sculpting you need ordinary sculpture stacks - metal and wood. In addition, when working, you need a walnut sponge (soft rag, rubber sponge) to remove the engobe.

Glazing - a widely used artistic and technical technique for processing ceramic products. Coating a product with glaze - a glassy mass - serves not only an aesthetic purpose. The glaze protects it from moisture penetration and makes it more durable. Glazes can be transparent (colorless and colored) and opaque. Transparent colorless glazes clearly reveal the natural color of the clay from which the product is made, which cannot be said about opaque glazes.

After the first, waste firing, the product is cleaned of dust with special brushes. The glaze prepared in the container is stirred until it becomes an emulsion. The product is dipped or covered in glaze and then dried.

The glaze can be applied with a large, fine-bristled brush, especially when only part of the surface is being glazed. Working under pressure compressed air An airbrush is also suitable for this purpose.

The basis of the glaze is quartz, feldspar, kaolin. Metal oxides are also introduced into the glaze, thereby achieving heat resistance and other qualities. Depending on the method of preparation, glazes are divided into raw and fritted. Raw glazes are the simplest: all components are crushed and mixed with water to a certain density of the glaze slip. To obtain fritted glaze, the components of the glaze mixture are fritted, that is, fused (usually at a temperature of 1200-1300 ° C), as a result of which insoluble silicates and other compounds are formed. After melting, the frit is poured into a container of water, where it cools, then dried and thoroughly crushed in a mortar. There are glazes that are refractory and fusible. Refractory ones are used for porcelain, fireclay, and hard earthenware. Their melting point is 1125-1360 °C. For majolica, glazes are used that melt at temperatures up to 1000 °C.

Colored glazes are also used to decorate majolica products. Color is achieved by introducing metal oxides and salts into the colorless glaze. Thus, cobalt oxide gives a color from light to dark blue; chromium oxide is green, and in the presence of tin - pink, red; Copper oxide is used to make green, red and fire reduction glazes; compounds with manganese give brown, pink colors; iron oxide - from yellow and red to brown and black, etc.

Reducing fire glazes make ceramic products very beautiful: when fired, a metallic sheen is formed on the surface. How is this achieved? At first, firing proceeds in the usual way, but at a kiln temperature of about 600 °C, when the glaze on the shard is no longer motionless, the access of air to the kiln is blocked, and reducing agents in the form of splinters, oil, and rags are introduced into the firebox. A reducing environment is created in the furnace; the fire removes oxygen and metal oxides. If you start reducing while the glaze is still liquid, the carbon can fuse into the glaze, causing it to turn a dull gray-black color. If the restoration fire is formed after the glaze has hardened, then restoration will not occur, the product will only be covered with soot.

The recovery process lasts from two to six hours. Products are removed from the oven only after they have cooled, otherwise metallization may stop. Glazes, which give a metallic sheen to ceramic products, are always fusible; they contain lead compounds, which are easily restored. But it must be borne in mind that lead can be restored earlier than the desired metal. This will ruin the glaze and it will turn metallic. dark gray color, and not the play of the rainbow. For getting beautiful shades The glaze is recommended to be applied to white enamels. The basis of reduction fire glazes are the following fluxes (in percentage):

The flux components are fused and then finely ground. Below are the recipes for some fire reduction glazes (in percentages).

Glaze No. 1. Colors in green, blue, gray, purple, red tones: flux No. 1 -98.2, copper oxide -1.8.

Glaze No. 2. Apply to a bisque shard to obtain an orange-pearl shade: flux No. 2 - 97, silver nitrate - 1.9, bismuth oxide - 1.1.

Glaze N 3. Creates copper color, violet: flux No. 3 or No. 4 - 99.1, copper sulfate - 0,9.

Glaze No. 4. Forms a golden color with a bright shine: flux No. 3 or No. 4 - 98.8, copper sulfate - 0.9, silver nitrate - 0.3.

Ceramic products decorated with crackle glaze are very impressive. Crackle glazes were first made in China. If cracks appeared in the glaze after firing, the products with such a defect were dipped into a certain liquid and fired again, after which the cracks were melted, the products turned out beautiful. The Chinese used these glazes to decorate products with ornaments or apply a blue or blue mesh on a white background.

Later they began to produce “crackle” in different colors. To obtain glazes with a narrow-loop network over the entire surface of the product, the so-called irregular glaze composition is prepared in advance, for which the amount of silica in it is reduced, thereby reducing acidity, and the content of alkali or lead compounds is increased. The product is covered with this glaze and fired. Firing takes less time than necessary, and as a result, cracks appear in the glaze. The still hot product is sometimes sprayed cold water, which also causes cracks to appear. Then it is dipped into a dye solution (cobalt nitrate, copper sulfate, etc.), where it should remain for an hour, the solution fills the cracks. To ensure that the dye remains only in the cracks, the entire surface is washed with water, dried, covered with the necessary glaze and fired. Crackle glaze can be obtained from ordinary glaze by introducing into its composition insoluble compounds that float to the top and, when cooled, create an uneven thin film resembling cracks.

Coating and painting products with enamels gives basically the same effect as painting with glazes. Enamels give bright and bright hues on a shard. Painting on white enamel is done mainly with blue, yellow, green, and violet-brown colors.

BURNING

The shaping of a ceramic product occurs during firing. A fully artistic image is revealed only after the shard has been thoroughly “sintered”, hardened, and the molten glaze has hardened. The molded product, dried, adjusted, decorated with engobe, salts, dried again, is placed in the oven. This is the first, waste, firing. Then the product is painted with glazes. When repeating

Ceramic tiles are a very common material for surface finishing. The tiles are practical and have a long service life, provided correct installation and use. Ceramic tile self made It is also distinguished by its originality and uniqueness of design. Anyone can make such tiles. Who is ready to delve into the issue of its production technology? Perhaps the product will not work out the first time, but the more experienced the master, the more better quality product. Unique samples of tiles can be used to decorate your own home, or you can put them on sale.

In order to make ceramic tiles yourself, you need to understand their types as best as possible. Using non-plastic clay can lead to cracking and rapid failure of the product. To prevent the clay from being refractory, it can be diluted with sand or pumice.

It is important to remember that one of the main properties that should have facing tiles, – power.

In order to thoroughly strengthen the tiles, a reinforcing mesh is used. In order for the tile to acquire additional shades, mineral oxides, which are natural pigments, are added to it. In some types of clay, these pigments are present initially.

Types of breeds:

Kaolin. It has White color. It is used to make earthenware and porcelain, paper and cosmetic products.
Cement. Used for preparing mixtures.
Brick. Melts easily. Used for the production of brick products.
Fireproof. It is a representative of the refractory variety. She can withstand such influences high temperature like 1580 degrees.
Acid resistant. Doesn't interact with large quantities chemical compounds. Chemical-resistant dishes and molds for the chemical industry are made from it.
Molding. A representative of the plastic fire-resistant variety.
Bentonite. Has whitening properties.

You need to decide on the composition before starting to manufacture the product. Everything must be carefully thought out. It is important to mix all components in correct proportions. The choice of clay will depend on what type of tile is needed: paving tiles or for decorating the inside of a room.

Ceramic tile production technology

When deciding to engage independent production ceramic tiles, it is necessary to study in detail the technology of its production. Almost all types of ceramics are made using the same method. The most important thing in tile production is to have necessary materials and devices.

The tiles are made from a plastic clay mass. It is from this that the tile is formed into the shape that they decided to give it.

After the shape of the tile is formed, the clay is subjected to further processing. In order to produce high-quality ceramics, it is necessary to select the right raw materials. It is important to take a responsible approach to the choice of clay, additional mixture, and also to properly maintain the wet mass.

Plate manufacturing technology:

First, the raw clay is prepared. To proceed to the next procedure, the raw material is thoroughly dried.
This is followed by the biscuit firing procedure. Primary processing involves the use of high temperature to fuse the mineral particles with each other. It is this alloy that helps create a durable ceramic product. It is called terracotta.
The surface of the product is primed and varnish, enamel or glaze is applied to it and then fired again.

Do good tiles at home is not so easy. To do this, each stage of work must be performed perfectly. From the very beginning, you need to choose the right raw materials - there are many types of clay. When choosing clay for making tiles, you need to correctly determine its plasticity. The most plastic is fatty clay, but non-plastic clay is called lean. For making tiles, it is best to use the medium type.

Manufacturing steps: DIY ceramic tiles

DIY clay tiles look very beautiful. Clay is very plastic, which is why it is pleasant and convenient to work with. In order for the casting to turn out to be of high quality, the clay must be well prepared for its production.

The ability of clay to take any shape and maintain it during drying is called plasticity.

To prepare the clay, you will additionally need sand, clothes or ground pumice. For self-made To make tiles, you will need material, a mold for future ceramics, cliches, spatulas, scoops, trowels. You should also make sure there is a mesh to reinforce the product.

Stages of making tiles:

Prepare clay, preferably of medium plasticity. The clay needs to be soaked in water for several days.
Using a mesh, you need to grind the clay.
Place the material on newspapers or cloth. Wait until the clay thickens.
Place the clay in the mold and compact it.
Dry the clay first.
Start the firing process.

The firing process is complex, so it will require special equipment. A muffle furnace is suitable for firing tiles at home. During the firing process, the tile hardens and becomes durable.

Options for making glass tiles with your own hands

The use of glass tiles is as common as finishing surfaces with tiles. These tiles are often used to decorate metro stations, medical institutions, factories and factories. Recently, decorating with glass tiles has gained popularity in residential premises.

There are three main ways to make glass tiles: cutting sheet glass, firing and tempering.

The quality of the tile and the ability to decorate a particular room with it will depend on the manufacturing method. There are many types of glass-based tiles. Some of them you can make yourself.

Types of glass tiles:

Enameled. For its production, the firing method is used.
Marblit. Rolled or frosted glass is used for production.
Stemalit. The hardening method is used.
Foam decor. Cover with glass-like film.
Tiles with a pattern. Instead of enamel, a drawing is applied.

Cards from glass mosaic. Decorating with glass tiles has many advantages. They are strong and durable. Over time, the tiles do not deform or fade. Glass tiles are easy to care for and can always be kept clean. Glass tiles go well with other finishing materials.

Production of tiles (video)

Many people do not want to use porcelain stoneware to decorate a room. Laying porcelain tiles is popular, but more and more people are leaning toward an original option for decorating a living space - laying homemade clay tiles. Making tiles yourself is not very easy, especially when it comes to firing. For a tile to be of high quality, it must be fired. For this you can use a cement or muffle furnace.

Recently it has become very fashionable to make dishes and various items do-it-yourself clay interior. We at the How to Green editorial office decided to figure out the reasons for the popularity of handmade ceramics, and turned to ceramic artistElena Subbotina . She named as many as 7 reasons (in addition to the obvious - creative self-realization and acquiring new craft knowledge) why it is worth making dishes for the home and various small items for the interior with your own hands.

Reason 1: uniqueness

Obviously, you can make a 100% unique set or tea pair for your kitchen either to order or with your own hands. Doing it yourself will be much cheaper. You have the opportunity to bring to life the most bold ideas and make exactly what fits perfectly into your interior or is suitable as a gift to a loved one. And not only the design you need, but also the size you like. So it’s up to you to decide whether you’ll drink tea at home from huge cups and saucers, like in Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, or from delicate tiny ones, like Kirsten Dunst’s heroine in the movie Marie Antoinette. By the way, making dishes for the home with your own hands is also convenient because, by creating, say, a service in the same style, you don’t have to overpay for soup or dessert plates that you don’t need, and then think about where to store them in your small kitchen. You will make for yourself only those plates, bowls, cups and mugs that you need and will use.

Reason 2: environmental friendliness

Did you know that when making tableware in factories, some still use hazardous materials, including lead and cadmium? Lead glazes are very beautiful; the content of this metal gives the product a special shine. The amount of lead, of course, is small, but using this glaze is strictly prohibited. It is not recommended to even store dry food in such containers, let alone pour hot soup into a bowl of lead. In some countries there is a law that prohibits the use of lead in foodware in any quantity. However, in Russia, China, Africa, and the countries of the Southeast region, there is often no strict control over manufacturers who neglect the issue of ethics and consumer health, since purchasing bright, glossy, lead-free glazes is much more expensive in large-scale production. So think ten times before you buy a cheap, bright cup or bowl. Why do you need dishes that poison you? harmful substances? By creating your own pottery, you can control which materials and glazes you use to create your plates and cups. By the way, ceramics can be bright and without colored glazes at all. There are natural colored clays: blue, green, black, and even ordinary light types have a beautiful natural color. In order for the products to be functional and not allow water to pass through, they must be covered with colorless or white glaze, but you can completely refuse colored glaze or choose safe, proven options.

Reason 3: replenishment

If suddenly careless guests or you yourself dropped your favorite mug and broke it, it’s okay. Your service will not suffer from this, because you can always make a couple more plates or cups. The same is true in the case of a new addition to your family - the birth of a baby or the marriage of a beloved brother. You can always make the missing set of dishes in a couple of hours. If you went on a trip, you probably noticed very interesting items interior - large vases, picture frames, candlesticks. Sometimes things are so beautiful, you just fall in love with them, but taking them with you from a trip is difficult and too troublesome. And why? It’s enough to take a couple of photos on your smartphone and, upon returning from vacation, make copies of your favorite interior items or dishes, but in your own style and to suit your tastes and needs.

Photo: ceramics studio Ceramic Forest

Reason 4: quality

A fairly common story: you bought beautiful dishes from an online store, but they turned out to be of poor quality. The bright pattern on the mug began to peel off after washing, and knife marks appeared on the plates. When producing your own dishes, especially in a ceramic workshop under the supervision of a master, such excesses are excluded. First of all, you will be taught how to handle clay correctly and the sequence will be explained. technological process, which will make your dishes high quality and practical. So you can put it in the microwave and wash it without any problems. dishwasher. There is no risk of cracks or peeling paint.

Reason 5: saving the family budget

If you haven’t decided to produce a whole set, but just for the sake of interest, you took an introductory course on ceramics and made a couple of mugs, then even this knowledge will be enough for you to begin to understand tableware, types of clay and glazes, and the artist’s skill. If suddenly in a store a saleswoman begins to assure you that a pair of coffee costs 20,000 rubles because it is rare blue clay, then you can safely clarify whether it is natural or just an artificial color (a pigment mixed into ordinary white clay)? Dyed clay carries no value and you are paying solely for the brand. Expensive ceramics stores also like to use stamping. This means that the shape of the products is not unique: the patterns that are applied to them can simply be printed, and not drawn by the master. It’s another matter if you see a designer jug made of expensive materials on a market somewhere in the mountains of Andalusia, unique shape and with painting. You will immediately understand how much work the master has put into it and why it costs a decent amount. By the way, if the author of this work of art is suddenly exhibited in some gallery or museum contemporary art, then the purchased jug can also be sold at a profit to collectors.

Reason 6: the issue with gifts has been resolved

Unique DIY ceramics are also exclusive gifts for family, friends and colleagues. You can personalize the dishes, leave initials on them, create any images and write wishes. For example, if you have unique lace left over from your grandmother, then you can make an entire service with a unique print based on it. Thus, each family member will have a memory printed on a mug, plate, dish or teapot. Clay is an amazing living material that allows you to bring any idea to life. We use ceramic products every day, so these gifts are not only beautiful and unique, but also very useful for any person, regardless of their gender and age. By the way, it is not at all necessary to give dishes as a gift. You can create almost anything from ceramics. For example, floor tiles– a great gift for renovating the bathroom in your beloved mother’s apartment. Other interesting options:

ceramic handles that will transform an ordinary stamped wooden chest of drawers into a real work of art for the chest of drawers;
decorative sculpture, for example, for the garden;
pots for indoor or garden flowers;
tray;
whistles for children;
brooches for friends;
soap dish and other bathroom accessories.

Photo: ceramics studio Ceramic Forest

Reason 7: additional income

After you learn how to make dishes with your own hands, make all the necessary plates for your own home, and give gifts to your friends and colleagues, it is quite possible to monetize your favorite hobby. Create, say, an online store on Instagram and produce unique dishes in your signature style to order. By the way, the most popular are craftswomen with a rather narrow specialization who make, for example, beautiful openwork stands for cakes and mugs unusual shape or fruit dishes with unique designs. Who knows, maybe one day you will make plates not only for your beloved man or relatives as a gift, but also for an entire restaurant.

Where to make your own dishes?

You can make your own cookware at home. For this you will need necessary materials– clay, stacks, glaze and so on. burn finished goods It is possible at home, for this there are stoves that are suitable for a voltage of 220 W. But they are quite expensive - from 100,000 rubles. Therefore on initial stage It is easier to fire in special kilns in ceramic workshops. They usually accept items not made by them for firing without any problems and for a very reasonable fee. Before purchasing materials for your home, we would recommend that you take an introductory course on working with clay from a specialist. Usually ceramic workshops offer different variants. Depending on the amount of information, such training will take you from 2 hours to several days and will cost from 2-3 thousand rubles, taking into account the cost of all materials. If you haven’t yet decided what exactly you want to make from ceramics, it makes sense to purchase a subscription to the workshop and attend master classes that interest you. It will be easier and cheaper than immediately taking long, expensive courses. Usually such master classes are held for several people at once, so you have original version spending leisure time with a friend or loved one.

By the way, you can make all the dishes that you see in the photo in this article with your own hands already in the first lesson...

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There was a period in the history of our country when harsh reality forced us to do any thing with our own hands, namely the lack required product in the trading network, and the only opportunity to become the owner of this or that item was to make it from something at home.

The main component for ceramic tiles is clay

Now modern industry and trade provides consumers with any range of goods, including satisfying the needs of buyers in the finishing materials market. Ceramic tiles are presented in all imaginable and inconceivable types, sizes and colors.

It would seem that it would be simpler: come, choose, buy, install, but this option does not suit everyone; in our rapid age of standardization and standard solutions, we want to highlight our individuality, at least in the decoration of a particular room. And this raises the question: is it possible to make ceramic tiles at home with your own hands, realizing your own ideas for decorating the interior space of a bathroom or kitchen. We won't languish. We answer. Yes, you can, but subject to some simple conditions, which are discussed below.

What is needed to organize ceramic production

First of all, you must have great desire, patience and confidence in a positive result, as well as have the necessary materials, tools, devices and equipment available. You may not succeed in everything right away, but the effort spent will ultimately give you the opportunity to be proud of yourself, showing your friends and acquaintances such a rather technologically advanced product as ceramic tiles made from clay with your own hands.

Handmade clay ceramic tiles

Selection of raw materials

Everyone probably knows what any ceramics is made from; the main component is clay. Here's a look at what types of clay exist, their properties and the possibility of using them to make ceramic tiles with your own hands. Based on their composition, properties and application, clays are divided into four groups:

Rough ceramic. They contain a large amount of impurities in the form of pebbles and sand, as well as gypsum and lime inclusions. Used to make bricks, tiles, dishes and expanded clay.
Fireproof and refractory. They have a high alumina content, good ductility and a high degree of fire resistance. Used in manufacturing fire bricks and various ceramics.
Kaolin. Low-plasticity clays are used in paper and rubber production and as an additive for the manufacture of earthenware.
Montmorillonite. Main feature is their high plasticity, used as drilling fluid in metallurgy and the food industry.

Plasticity is the ability of clay to take on any shape and retain it as it dries.

Clays are also divided into “fat” and “lean”. The former are plastic and products from them can be given any shape, but to make ceramics with your own hands at home, it is necessary to prepare the clay, for which the starting material is diluted to required composition sand, fireclay or ground pumice.

You should not take too “oily” clay, preferably medium plastic

Selection of tools and materials

If you decide to make tiled or regular ceramic tiles with your own hands, you will need:

raw materials: clay, filler for dilution, if the clay is oily, water;
mold for the production of future tiles;
cliche for forming an imprint of a design or bas-relief on the front side of the product;
spatula, scoop, trowel;
mesh for reinforcing the product.

Stages of making ceramics

The technology for producing ceramic tiles with your own hands consists of the following steps:

Clay of medium plasticity is taken, poured into a container and filled with water. After several days of soaking, the clay is mixed and kneaded. Then, through a fine sieve, the material is ground into another container, after which the mass is distributed onto old newspapers or a rag in a layer of 10-15 mm. Once the clay reaches the desired thickness, it is mixed and placed in a plastic bag.
The material prepared in this way is placed into molds and compacted; this must be done so that the level of the molding mass coincides with the edges of the mold, for which excess material is cut off with a knife or cutter.

Most quality forms made from polyurethane, the products are quite smooth with the same parameters.

Next, the technology for making ceramic tiles with your own hands goes into the pre-drying stage. It lasts until the mass acquires a lighter shade and this period depends on temperature environment and humidity. The result is a raw tile. If something went wrong for you, then at this stage you can still correct the situation, for which the spoiled semi-finished product is soaked in water, and the molding procedure begins again.
The process of firing raw tiles is the most technologically advanced stage, because the semi-finished product must be exposed to high temperatures of about 1000-1200 degrees, which requires special equipment. To make ceramic tiles with your own hands, you can limit yourself to a temperature of 850-900 degrees, which is achieved in an electric muffle furnace. The production technology allows this, provided that the clay mass contains pumice, which is sintered at the specified temperature. This primary firing is called biscuit firing for some similarity in the resulting finely porous structure of the workpiece, after evaporating the water from it. The ceramic workpiece has already acquired the necessary hardness and strength. This product is called terracotta.

Stages of technology: making raw materials, firing ceramics and applying a decorative layer

If you want to make majolica with your own hands, that is, fired ceramics, with the front side covered with glaze, or, more simply, tiles, then the production technology does not end there. It is necessary to do another firing, but with glaze, for which a multicomponent mixture is prepared, the main components of which are glass, kaolin and tripolephosphate in powder form. All components are mixed and diluted with water. The resulting mixture, with a brush or by pouring the workpiece, is distributed over the product, and a second firing is performed.

Particular attention should be paid to controlling the process temperature; it should not be higher than the primary firing temperature. Otherwise, the glazed surface may be damaged or the terracotta workpiece may sinter.

This manufacturing technology tiles allows you to create unique compositions on the glossy surface of the product, for which different glaze compositions are used. If glazing with firing is not suitable for you for some reason, you can create an attractive, smooth and shiny surface with your own hands by treating the workpiece with enamel or varnish.

And so, if you read the article to the end, and the difficulties of making ceramic tiles from clay with your own hands, reflected in this manual, did not frighten you, then honor and praise to you. After all, knowing what and how to make such a unique finishing material, originality and individuality of the cladding, as well as the delight of your friends and acquaintances, are guaranteed to you.

Let’s say a situation arises where you are left alone with nature, civilization is either somewhere far away or no longer exists at all (the plot is not so important, the need is important). And so you decide to make the simplest dishes from clay! How to do this in survival conditions?!

If you are not an experienced potter, and you don’t have a potter’s wheel at hand (perhaps yet), try making a simple vessel. In ancient times, our ancestors simply scraped them out of a whole piece of clay or sculpted them by hand. And even in our time in Central Asia, in some villages it is still preserved manual method sculpting of vessels.

Before sculpting pottery, you should find the material to make it! Look for clay along the banks of ravines and rivers, near streams and springs. There are many clay deposits in swampy areas where there is a low level of soil water. In this case, clay is usually located under other rocks. Therefore, before extracting clay, you need to remove their layer.

Also keep in mind that the extracted clay may contain impurities (small pebbles, sand); it would be good to get rid of them; if possible, fill the clay with water and let it settle. Impurities should settle to the bottom, and clean clay should be removed and dried in the sun, after which you can begin to sculpt. Clay and water are all we need.

To sculpt a vessel by hand, first sculpt the bottom into a round plate. Then small pieces of clay should be rolled into flagella of approximately the same thickness. Now we make the walls of our vessel: the flagella should be laid one on top of the other, in rings, starting from the bottom, giving the shape we need (see picture). When laying flagella, simultaneously rub the gaps between them and smooth out any irregularities.

Afterwards, the resulting vessel should be burned, since apparently we do not have a stove (perhaps for now) we will use a fire.

Remember turning clay into ceramics is happening at a temperature 500-900 °C. The lower the temperature, the longer the firing should take. Experiments have shown that in a fire it is possible to reach temperatures of up to 750 °C. It should be noted that Burning in the fires has not outlived its usefulness in our time. It is preserved in Central Asia, Africa and America. Shortest firing time in a fire from 8 to 12 hours, but sometimes it lasts several days. As you remember, Robinson burned all my dishes overnight.

You can also benefit from centuries of experience. Do this: lay pieces of bricks on a flat area (in theory, flat stones will also work). Place the vessel on the stones. If there are a lot of items, large items are placed on them first, then medium-sized items and capsules (a fireproof box for firing, such as a tin can) with small items (Fig. 2). The resulting pyramid of clay products Carefully cover it with wood and light the fire. It should burn for at least 8 hours. Although, as already mentioned, the longer the firing lasts, the stronger our ceramics.

Small items, if there is a need for such, can be fired in capsules in another way (Fig. 1). Dig a shallow hole at the bottom of which, lay firewood with a grate and place capsules from tin cans. Fill the hole charcoal left over from an old fire. When the coal completely covers the jars, it is sprinkled with a thin layer of earth and a fire is lit on top, on which you can cook food or use it for any other needs: the firing will proceed as if automatically. If the fire is stopped burning late in the evening, it is extinguished, covered with earth and left until the morning. In the morning, the capsules are dug out of the ash and the fired products are taken out of them.

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